As a point of accuracy when it comes to modern history in sports and the impact it had on fashion design, you’d study the plans of the time — the Trans-Atlantic background of fashion and sports.
In America, the twenties are referred to as the Age of Jazz, a time of permissiveness and hedonism that screamed prosperity. By 1920 the shape to have is that of a youthful flapper, which is a boyish figure with a lot of hair cut into the bob style. The main trends were set at the horse races, and everyone else followed without questioning the latest designs.
Caroline Milbank was what archetypal beauty was, at the time. Women styles kept shifting and soon it focussed on a natural waistline and being more feminine, and dresses were softer, longer-hemmed and showed off the sculptural silhouette of the wearer.
The Dow-Jones dropped its Wall Street Averages – Was it the Era of Moderations?
Amy de la Haye and Caroline Reynolds were the more feminine in appearance and preferred the longer-hemmed dressing style for the races; they dropped the hemlines from the knees down to the ankle. They were some of the fashion icons at the time and photographed at the races.
In correspondence, the Dow-Jones dropped its Wall Street averages, or so some say. Was it what some describe as the era of moderation?
Horse-Racing Fashion the Differences between the 19th and 20th Century Fashions
Many things had an impact on fashion designs; there was the World War, the 1920 depression and the interlocking influences between the sexes. In horse-racing fashion, the biggest was that between the 19th and 20th-century fashions.
The influences of sport and sports events had a significant influence on women’s fashion. Clothes designed for activities such as rowing or fox hunting had an impact. Sportswear started overlapping the dress code and designers had to combine elements of formal wear with a sporty look.
To be Singled Out & Appear in a Magazine is the Dream – Everyone Competes at the Races
It is in 1930 that the American, home-grown fashion completely disengaged itself from that of the French. Fashion trends were now decided in New York, and white suits were in. What was chic was crepes, pastel colours and wearing smart-casual at home. Sporty wear was born; it was a combination of sports and fashion.
Younger fashion slaves wanted stylish outfits allowing them to roller-skate. Simple patterns became a fashion, silks were in, and American designers could create ready-to-wear outfits. What remained the same throughout the centuries is that women that went to horse races would dress smartly; they wanted to be looked at.
To be singled out was a dream everyone was competing after all the sports events were always the place to showcase your style, your sense of fashion and your status. Maybe it is then that mannequins became a new way of displaying modelled styles, each copied from races such as the Ascot.